How to kill a show before it even begins 101: First and foremost, take an interesting and unique premise and water it down as much as humanly possible. Second, cut the special effects budget to the bare bones. Third, make sure you cast unlikeable and unappealing actors who have the on-screen chemistry of a pile of salt. Fourth, depart as much from the source material as you can get away with while still keeping the franchise rights, and finally, sixth, suck away all sense of atmosphere or depth by using as many directing clichés as possible.
Stars and Stones, no wonder this series died. Most people read the books and then are disappointed by the series, but I did this backwards. I was disappointed by the series, and then floored by the books. Not that Jim Butcher is the reincarnation of Hemingway or anything, but his stories are gripping, entertaining, and ruthlessly addictive. Every sentence moves the story along, which is a trick Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling need to learn.
The plot centers around Harry Dresden, a wizard in modern day Chicago who battles supernatural threats. In the book it's a sort of urban fantasy noir kind of feeling with a nerdy, but likable protagonist. In the series, it's a kind of Charmed with no hot chicks, which is all that show had going for it for most of the run.
I don't care that they changed a lot of the details, what got to me was how incompetently the stories were told and how unlikeable and flat the characters were. I honestly had no emotional investment in the stories, which is the exact opposite of what Jim Butcher does in his work. I watched two episodes, the pilot "Storm Front" and the first episode, and I was pretty much done halfway through each.
Ignore the show. Read the books.
Stars and Stones, no wonder this series died. Most people read the books and then are disappointed by the series, but I did this backwards. I was disappointed by the series, and then floored by the books. Not that Jim Butcher is the reincarnation of Hemingway or anything, but his stories are gripping, entertaining, and ruthlessly addictive. Every sentence moves the story along, which is a trick Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling need to learn.
The plot centers around Harry Dresden, a wizard in modern day Chicago who battles supernatural threats. In the book it's a sort of urban fantasy noir kind of feeling with a nerdy, but likable protagonist. In the series, it's a kind of Charmed with no hot chicks, which is all that show had going for it for most of the run.
I don't care that they changed a lot of the details, what got to me was how incompetently the stories were told and how unlikeable and flat the characters were. I honestly had no emotional investment in the stories, which is the exact opposite of what Jim Butcher does in his work. I watched two episodes, the pilot "Storm Front" and the first episode, and I was pretty much done halfway through each.
Ignore the show. Read the books.